Illinois attorney general announces anti-sex assault effort

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Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Illinois attorney general announces anti-sex assault effort

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

CHICAGO (AP) – Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has created a working group tasked with improving prosecution rates of sexual assault cases statewide.

Madigan made the announcement Tuesday in Chicago with Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and St. Clair County County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly. The Belleville News-Democratreports that Madigan said the “system is broken.” Her office cited studies that show between 5 and 20 percent of all rapes are reported.

The group will include Illinois law enforcement, criminal justice and health care agencies. The goal, officials said, is to identify what is discouraging sexual assault victims from reporting the crimes and improve the response to sexual assault cases that are reported. That includes increasing the number of sexual assault nurse examiners statewide.
___Information from: Belleville News-Democrat